Drive-thru system and method

ABSTRACT

A vehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system and method are provided. The system includes a lot, a drive-thru lane and a building for receiving and filling drive-thru orders. The building has a primary food delivery window for passing ready orders to drive-thru customers, and a downstream in-line parking area for drive-thru vehicles having a delayed order. Proximate to and downstream from the primary food delivery window is a doorway for attendant access from the primary food delivery window to the downstream in-line parking area. An attendant runway is proximate and downstream of the doorway and proximate to the in-line vehicle waiting area. A customer with a delayed order can be directed to wait in the downstream in-line waiting area. When the delayed order is ready for delivery, an attendant can deliver the ready order via the proximate doorway and proximate attendant runway to a vehicle waiting in the in-line vehicle waiting area.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a drive-thru system and method for servicingvehicular drive-thru customers of a quick-service restaurant.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many quick-service restaurants include vehicular drive-thru service thatallows drive-thru customers to place, pay for and receive delivery of afood order from a vehicular drive-thru lane, all without the drive-thrucustomers needing to leave their vehicles. Typically, the drive-thrulane includes an order station along the drive-thru lane that may belocated remote of the restaurant building. At the order station acustomer places an order by communicating with an attendant, such as bymicrophone and speaker. The attendant is positioned within therestaurant at a payment window that is located along the drive-thru laneand remote from the order station. Typically, as the order is receivedby the attendant, the attendant enters the order in point-of-saleequipment, such as an electronic cash register. After placing an order,the customer drives downstream to the payment window and pays theattendant for the order. The customer then is directed to a downstreampick-up window in the building to receive the customer's order fromanother attendant within the building.

Occasionally, the staff of the facility is not able to prepare acustomer's order and have it ready for delivery by the time the customerhas progressed to the order pick-up window or within a relatively shorttime thereafter. During the time the delivery of the order is delayed,the vehicle waits adjacent the order pick-up window. With the vehiclehaving the delayed order parked at the pick-up window, the continuedservicing of upstream vehicles is hindered since continued access to thepick-up window is no longer possible for upstream vehicles. This isparticularly significant if the order from the vehicle waiting at theorder pick-up window is delayed for a relatively long period of time,such as on the order or one, two, three or more minutes. A furthercomplication arises when upstream vehicles queue behind the parkedvehicle at the pick-up window, and the queue eventually extends back tothe payment window. In this case, the vehicle parked at the paymentwindow is blocked from moving forward to allow further servicing ofupstream vehicles at the payment window. Furthermore, orders forupstream vehicles may be ready for pick-up, but cannot be picked upbecause of the downstream vehicle at the order pick-up window that iswaiting for its order. A still further complication arises if the queueof vehicles in the drive-thru lane extends upstream to the orderstation. When this happens, a vehicle that has completed ordering islikewise blocked from pulling forward from the order station. Vehiclesupstream from the order station then cannot access the order station toplace their order. Thus, the occurrence of delayed orders can seriouslyaffect the services provided in the drive-thru system by reducing thethroughput of the drive-thru system.

Such delayed orders are likely to cause the most serious problem duringperiods when the volume of vehicular use of the drive-thru system isgreatest, i.e., breakfast, lunch and dinner time and other periodsexperiencing high arrival rates. In addition to negatively impacting thethroughput of the drive-thru system, when a customer experiences longerthan expected drive-thru service time, the customer becomes dissatisfiedand is less likely to return to the facility in the future.Additionally, if a customer sees a drive-thru system that appears tohave a long line or that appears to be backed up, such customer mayequate that condition with a relatively long wait based on pastexperience and thus may choose to leave the premises without ordering,and then seek service from a competitor.

A need exists for a drive-thru ordering and delivery system with ahigher vehicle throughput to allow a greater number of food orders to bereceived, processed and delivered per hour.

A need exists for a drive-thru ordering and delivery system thatminimizes the effect of delayed orders on the system.

A need exists for a quick-service restaurant facility that providesgreater throughput of drive-thru customers without additional exteriorspace requirements for the facility.

A need also exists for a quick-service restaurant lot layout withimproved safety for pedestrian traffic for non-drive-thru customers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention a vehicular drive-thru foodordering and delivering system is provided. The system includes a lothaving a vehicular ingress and vehicular egress thereto. The system alsoincludes a building for receiving and filling drive-thru customer ordersfor delivery to customers. The building has a primary food delivery orpick-up window for passing food orders through the primary food deliverywindow to a drive-thru customer located in a vehicle. A vehiculardrive-thru lane is situated on the lot and passes adjacent to theprimary food delivery window. The vehicular drive-thru lane isaccessible from the lot vehicular ingress and has access to the lotvehicular egress. At least one order station is located remote from thebuilding and along the vehicular drive-thru lane and upstream of thepick-up window. An in-line vehicle waiting area is located in thevehicular drive-thru lane a distance downstream of the primary fooddelivery window. The in-line vehicle waiting area includes one or morein-line vehicle waiting spaces in which a vehicle can await delivery ofa delayed order. The distance between the primary food delivery windowand the in-line vehicle waiting area is sufficient to allow an upstreamvehicle leaving the primary food delivery window to drive forward andaround a downstream vehicle waiting in the in-line vehicle waiting areaand to the vehicle egress without backing up. An attendant runway islocated downstream of the primary food delivery window and at least aportion of the attendant runway is positioned in an area outside thebuilding and adjacent to the in-line vehicle waiting area to provide atleast a portion of a path from the primary food delivery window to avehicle waiting in the in-line vehicle waiting area without requiring anattendant to cross over the vehicular drive-thru lane. A building egressproximate to the primary food delivery window provides an attendantaccess from the primary food delivery window to the portion of theattendant runway that is outside the building to allow the delivery ofan order to a vehicle waiting in the in-line vehicle waiting area. Asecond vehicle lane is positioned along at least a portion of thevehicular drive-thru lane adjacent the in-line vehicle waiting area andis of sufficient length and width to allow a vehicle leaving the primaryfood delivery window to drive forward and past a downstream vehiclewaiting in the in-line vehicle waiting area without having to back up.Thereafter, the vehicle can proceed to the lot vehicular egress via thesecond vehicle lane.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention the system includes adisplay positioned adjacent to the in-line vehicle waiting area. Thisdisplay displays information relating to a specific customer's order.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention the system includes avehicle barrier positioned along and between at least a portion of theattendant runway and the vehicular drive-thru lane to protect anattendant on the attendant runway from vehicular traffic.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention the in-line vehiclewaiting area includes first and second in-line vehicle waiting spaces.The second in-line vehicle waiting space is located downstream from thefirst in-line vehicle waiting space. The second in-line vehicle waitingspace is spaced a sufficient distance from the first in-line vehiclewaiting space so that a vehicle waiting at the first in-line vehiclewaiting space can drive forward and around a vehicle waiting in thesecond in-line vehicle waiting space without backing up. The secondvehicle lane is of sufficient length and width to allow a vehiclewaiting at the first in-line vehicle waiting space to drive forward andaround a downstream vehicle waiting in the second in-line vehiclewaiting space without backing up and thereafter to proceed to vehicularegress.

In accordance with still another aspect of the invention the systemincludes a secondary food delivery window located downstream of theprimary food delivery window. The secondary food delivery window islocated adjacent the first in-line vehicle waiting space and along anenclosed attendant pathway from the primary food delivery window to thesecondary food delivery window. The enclosed attendant pathway allowsdelivery of a delayed order through the secondary food delivery windowto a vehicle waiting at the first in-line vehicle waiting space. Thesecond in-line vehicle waiting space is located downstream of thebuilding egress along the portion of the attendant runway that isoutside of the building.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention the in-linevehicle waiting area includes a third in-line vehicle waiting space. Thethird in-line vehicle waiting space is located downstream of the secondin-line vehicle waiting space and is adjacent a portion of the attendantrunway that is outside the building.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method ofservicing customers in vehicles in a vehicular drive-thru food orderingand delivering system is provided. The system includes a vehiculardrive-thru lane with a vehicular ingress and a vehicular egress, aprimary food delivery or pick-up window for use by an attendant toreceive payment for drive-thru orders not previously paid for, and todeliver ready orders to customers. The method includes delivering afirst food order to a first customer in the vehicular drive-thru lanefrom the primary food delivery window if the first food order for thefirst customer is a non-delayed order, and thereafter allowing the firstcustomer to exit the vehicular drive-thru lane at the vehicular egress.The first customer, when at the primary food delivery window and if thefirst order is a delayed order, is directed to move downstream from theprimary food delivery window to wait in a downstream in-line vehiclewaiting area. The in-line vehicle waiting area is located in thevehicular drive-thru lane, and the downstream in-line vehicle waitingarea also is located proximate to the primary food delivery window.Drive-thru service is provided to a second customer in a vehicle that isupstream from the first customer while the first customer waits in thein-line vehicle waiting area for delivery of a delayed first order. Thecontinued service for the second customer while the first customer waitsfor the delayed first order includes delivering a second order to thesecond customer from the primary food delivery window when the secondorder is a non-delayed order, and thereafter allowing the secondcustomer to drive forward and around the first customer without backingup to exit at the vehicular egress. When ready for delivery, the delayedfirst order is delivered to the first customer waiting in the in-linevehicle waiting area by an attendant who takes the then ready delayedfirst order and exits the building through a doorway provided proximateto the primary food delivery window. Thereafter, the attendant walksalong an outside attendant pathway to the first customer waiting in thein-line vehicle waiting area, wherein the attendant pathway from theprimary food delivery window to the customer waiting in the in-linevehicle waiting area does not cross the drive-thru lane. After deliveryof the first order to the first customer, the first customer is allowedto exit the vehicular drive-thru lane at the vehicular egress.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, aquick-service restaurant system for providing both vehicular drive-thruand non-drive-thru customer food ordering is provided. The systemincludes a lot with at least one vehicular ingress and at least onevehicular egress. A building situated on the lot is provided forpreparing drive-thru and non-drive-thru customer orders and for deliveryof the customer orders to the customers. A vehicle parking lot area hasa plurality of parking spaces for non-drive-thru customers and hasvehicular access to at least one vehicular ingress and at least onevehicular egress. A pedestrian pathway for non-drive-thru customersprovides a pathway from the vehicle parking lot to the building to allowa non-drive-thru customer to place and receive an order thereat. Avehicular drive-thru pathway is provided for drive-thru customers. Thedrive-thru pathway includes at least one drive-thru lane with thedrive-thru pathway having an inner perimeter. The vehicular drive-thrulane has access to at least one vehicular ingress and access to at leastone vehicular egress for the lot. At least one order station is locatedalong the drive-thru pathway for placing drive-thru orders by customersin vehicles. The building has a delivery window for deliveringdrive-thru orders to a customer in a drive-thru vehicle. The deliverywindow is located adjacent to the drive-thru pathway. The innerperimeter of the drive-thru pathway is located outwardly from all of theparking spaces of the non-drive-thru parking lot area and outwardly fromthe pedestrian pathways and the building, so that non-drive-thrucustomers can use the parking lot area and the pedestrian pathwaywithout walking through the vehicular drive-thru pathway.

Other advantages and features of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description and from reference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the premises of the drive-thru system inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the premises of the drive-thrusystem showing a progression of drive-thru vehicles through thedrive-thru system at a point in time later than that shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the premises of the drive-thrusystem showing a progression of drive-thru vehicles through thedrive-thru system at a point in time later than that shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the premises of the drive-thrusystem showing a progression of drive-thru vehicles through thedrive-thru system at a point in time later than that shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of the premises of the drive-thrusystem in accordance with a second embodiment of the present inventionhaving a first in-line vehicle waiting space that can be accessed by anattendant without walking outside and a second in-line vehicle waitingspace that is accessed by an attendant along an outside attendantrunway;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary plan view of the premises of the drive-thrusystem in accordance with a third embodiment of the present inventionhaving a first in-line vehicle waiting space that can be accessed by anattendant without walking outside and two in-line vehicle waiting spacesthat are accessed by an attendant along an outside attendant runway;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the drive-thru facility inaccordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary plan view of the facility of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary plan view of the premises of the drive-thrusystem in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present inventionillustrating an in-line ordering area;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the premises of the drive-thru system inaccordance with a fifth embodiment of the present invention thatincludes a secondary drive-thru system; and

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary plan view of the premises of the drive-thrusystem in accordance with a sixth embodiment of the present inventionthat includes a secondary drive-thru system that includes a common foodorder delivery area.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there are shown in the drawings and described in detail herein,several specific embodiments with the understanding that the presentdisclosure is to be considered as exemplifications of the principles ofthe invention and is not intended to limit the invention to theembodiments illustrated.

Referring to the figures generally, and in particular FIG. 1, there isillustrated a quick-service restaurant premises 10 having a lot 12 onwhich is situated a restaurant building 14. The premises 10 typicallywill be located adjacent a street 18, although premises 10 may also be asection of a larger plat, such as that of a shopping center. An ingress20 provides a vehicle entrance to premises 10 while egresses 22a,22b,22c provide locations from which a vehicle 24 may exit premises 10to street 18.

Building 14 preferably is equipped to service both drive-thru customersand non-drive-thru customers. Drive-thru customers are customers who canorder, pay for, and receive delivery of a food order without leavingtheir vehicles. Non-drive-thru customers are customers who park theirvehicles 24 on premises 10 and thereafter walk to building 14 to place,pay for, and receive food orders. Typically, building 14 will alsoinclude seating (not shown) where non-drive-thru customers can consumetheir food orders.

After entering ingress 20, vehicle 24 utilizing drive-thru service willfollow lane portion 26 of entrance lane 28 which leads to a drive-thrulane 30 that travels around building 14, and thereafter exits premises10 at egress 22c. A non-drive-thru customer also enters at ingress 20and travels along lane portion 26 before pulling into and parking atparking sections 34 or 36 of parking lot 38. Alternatively, anon-drive-thru customer may enter at ingress 20 and choose to travelalong front lane 44 to park in front parking lot section 46 of parkinglot 38. A plurality of marked parking spaces 40 are provided in parkinglot 38 for use by non-drive-thru customers.

After parking, non-drive-thru customers, represented in the drawings aspeople P, exit their vehicles 24 and walk to building 14 to receiveservice. Typically, building 14 will have a main building entrance 50,as well as one or more auxiliary entrances 52, where people P can enterbuilding 14. Building 14 typically is equipped with an area to receivenon-drive-thru customers to take their orders and payments, an area toprepare food orders, and a seating area for customers desiring toconsume their food order in building 14.

People P moving to and from building 14 to receive non-drive-thruservice may take various pathways or routes between parking spaces 40and building 14. Such pedestrian routes of people P typically includewalking through portions of parking lot 38 as well as walking along oneof sidewalks 54 provided for that purpose. Considering that people Poften includes small children, it is important to limit the exposure ofthe pedestrian pathways to and from building 14 to the pathway ofvehicular drive-thru customers. This is especially true in view of thefact that those using drive-thru service may at times be traveling at aspeed that is greater than that of non-drive-thru vehicles.

To increase safety for the pedestrian pathways, all of parking spaces 40of parking lot 38 are situated to the interior of the inner perimeter 58of the drive-thru pathway that includes entrance lane 28 leading todrive-thru lane 30, as well as drive-thru lane 30. By this arrangement,pedestrian pathways to and from building 14 are isolated from drive-thrutraffic. Thus, regardless of which of parking spaces 40 of parking lot38 a customer parks at, a safe pedestrian pathway to and from building14 is available, and a person P utilizing non-drive-thru service neednot cross into the path of drive-thru vehicular traffic.

In another aspect of the present invention, a highly efficientdrive-thru system for drive-thru orders and deliveries is provided. Thedrive-thru system increases attendant productivity to drive-thru vehiclethroughput capabilities without requiring a corresponding increase inlabor costs. Moreover, as discussed later in greater detail, the higherrates are provided while at the same time allowing potentially reducedcapital expenses, making efficient use of the square footage of the lotand without additional exterior space requirements for the building.Importantly, these advantages are achieved while at the same timecustomer satisfaction is increased by reducing the average time requiredfor a drive-thru customer to receive service.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, drive-thru lane 30 includes an open gatewayor entrance area 60 that typically includes signage indicating thatdrive-thru service is available ahead of gateway 60 and that an exit topremises 10 is also available ahead of gateway 60. Gateway 60 may alsoinclude an iconic representation of the name or brand name of thecompany operating building 14 that may be provided on pillars 56 locatedadjacent the ends of gateway 60. Also downstream from gateway 60 is apass-through or bypass lane 62 that lies to the outside of drive-thrulane 30. Bypass lane 62 can be used by customers who mistakenly haveentered drive-thru gateway 60 as a quick and direct route for reachingpremises egress 22b without becoming trapped behind vehicles usingdrive-thru lane 30. Bypass lane 62 can also be used as an alternativeroute for exiting premises 10 for non-drive-thru customers having parkedin parking lot sections 34 or 36. A curb 64 may be provided to separatethe rear segment 66 of drive-thru lane 30 from the rear segment 68 ofbypass lane 62. A vehicle 24 desiring drive-thru service movesdownstream along rear segment 66 of drive-thru lane 30 to approach thedrive-thru lane corner 70. At corner 70, drive-thru lane 30 separatesinto two order lane segments 72 and 74 that lead to parallel orderstations 78a and 78b, respectively. Optionally, additional parallel lanesegments may be provided, such as 3, 4, 5 or more parallel lanesegments, each having at least one order station. Downstream of theorder stations the parallel lane segments merge back into a singledrive-thru lane. At order stations 78, drive-thru customers maysimultaneously place drive-thru orders. Ordering typically isaccomplished without requiring customers to leave their vehicles. Bypositioning order stations 78 in a parallel configuration, a customerfinishing order placement can proceed downstream, without having to waitbehind a downstream vehicle that is not yet finished placing an order,as might occur if orders stations 78 were laid out in a seriesconfiguration along drive-thru lane 30.

Prior to entering segment 72 or 74, a customer can decide which route islikely to provide the quickest access to an open order station 78. Forexample, if order station 78a along inner lane segment 72 is alreadyoccupied, the customer can proceed along outer lane segment 74 to anavailable order station 78b. If both order stations 78 are occupied, thecustomer can elect to move in line behind the shortest queue at orderstations 78. If both queues are of equal length, a driver can approachthe lane that he determines is most likely to first become available.For example, if the customer noticed which of the two vehiclesimmediately preceded him down rear segment 66, the driver might chooseto queue at the order station not selected by the immediately previousvehicle. Alternatively, a driver can wait upstream of the corner 70, andlater choose to enter a queue for an order station 78 based on theprogress of the vehicles at the order stations 78a, 78b. Corner 70preferably also includes a drive-thru exit opening 76 located forward ofcurb 64. Exit opening 76 may be used by a customer who makes a decisionto opt out of the drive-thru service, or by a customer who hadmistakenly entered the drive-thru lane segment 66. Such a customer mayuse the drive-thru exit opening 76 to gain access to bypass lane 62 andproceed directly to premises egress 22b.

A customer can place an order at order station 78 by any suitable means.Such means preferably includes order station 78 having a display screen(not shown) for customer touch screen ordering. By touching variouslocations on the display screen, a customer can choose from itemsdisplayed on the screen to create a food order. As the order is beingplaced, the items ordered and the price of the order are displayed onthe screen. The touch screen ordering system also preferably allows thecustomer to make corrections and/or additions to orders, then finallyenter the order. Orders entered by a customer at an order station 78 arecommunicated to one or more computers that are located within building14. Such communication may take place by networking, hard wiring,wireless communication or any other suitable means. Typically, at leastone of these computers is a point-of-sale computerized cash register 80that is located in the drive-thru order delivery area 82 of building 14.Order delivery area 82 provides a location where a drive-thru servicingattendant A can be positioned. Proximate to order delivery area 82 is aprimary food delivery window 84 from which attendant A can pass througha prepared order from within building 14 to a drive-thru customerpresent at primary food delivery window 84. Primary food delivery window84 typically is a slideable glass window for opening and closing asneeded. Food delivery area 82 may include a veranda 88 to provide moreconvenient vehicle access to primary food delivery window 84 forreceiving delivery of a customer order.

During the ordering process, attendant A and a customer at order station78 are able to communicate with each other through speakers andmicrophones at order delivery area 82 and order stations 78. Thus, as analternative to touch screen order entering, a customer may verballyplace an order with attendant A. When taking a verbal order, attendant Acan enter such order into the point-of-sale equipment, such ascomputerized cash register 80 that may have a touch screen, or othersuitable order entry means. An order taken verbally from order station78 and entered into cash register 80 by attendant A preferably causesthe order to be displayed on the display screen at order station 78 forviewing and verification by the customer.

At order stations 78a, 78b, or proximate thereto, a drive-thru paymentmeans is optionally provided to allow a customer to make payment for anorder prior to reaching primary food delivery window 84. Such paymentmeans preferably includes a cashless payment system for acceptingpayment by credit card, debit card or smart card, and may also includevending means for receiving cash from a customer and returning anychange due. Alternatively, a customer may choose to pay later for anorder at primary food delivery window 84, such as by handing a cashpayment to attendant A at primary food delivery window 84.

The drive-thru system preferably also includes means for order trackingto associate a specific order with a specific vehicle. Any suitablemeans may be used to accomplish order matching. For example, a camera orcameras (not shown) that are located proximate to order station 78a, 78bor both may be positioned to take a digital photograph or image at thetime an order is entered. The image is then associated, such aselectronically associated, with the order that has been entered by thecustomer at order station 78, or taken verbally and entered by attendantA, into the point-of-sale electronic cash register 80. The image may beof the particular customer, the customer's vehicle, the customer'svehicle license plate, or any other identifying feature of the customeror vehicle. The image, or other identifying feature used, then isassociated and stored with the corresponding order of the customer. Forexample, a computer program used for the ordering system may associatean image of the license plate of the vehicle with the order, and thendisplay the photograph along with the order. Thus, a matched image andorder, including items ordered and pricing, can be displayed on one ormore display screens. One such display screen may be that ofpoint-of-sale cash register 80 located in the food delivery area 82,such as at primary food delivery window 84, to be viewable by attendantA.

Other computer displays may be viewable by persons preparing the order,and as described later in greater detail, at a location downstream ofprimary food delivery window 84 for use in servicing customers with adelayed order. Alternatively, a printout of the order and the photo orother identifying means could be provided for attendant A's use to makedelivery of the order to the proper vehicle.

In order to better describe the progression of vehicles 24 through thedrive-thru system, certain vehicles 24 that appear in FIGS. 1-4 areassigned reference numerals 101-113. Vehicle 101 is shown as the vehiclethat is furthest along through the drive-thru system, with vehicles102-113 being in positions upstream and behind vehicle 101 in theirprogress through the drive-thru system. In FIG. 1 drive-thru vehicle 113is shown just after entering premises 10 at ingress 20. A downstreamdrive-thru vehicle 112 is about to pass through gateway 60, whiledrive-thru vehicle 111 has passed through gateway 60 to followdrive-thru vehicle 109 down rear segment 66 of drive-thru lane 30.Vehicle 110 illustrates a vehicle that has opted out of drive-thruservice, and instead is using bypass lane 62 to proceed directly topremises egress 22b. Vehicles 105 and 106 are parked at order stations78b, 78a, respectively, and are in the process of placing a food order.Vehicles 107 and 108, shown queuing at order stations 78b and 78a,respectively, are awaiting their turn at an order station 78. Drive-thruvehicles 102, 103, 104, have previously placed their orders at one oforder stations 78 and are now queuing behind vehicle 101 to receivedelivery of their orders. Before reaching primary food delivery window84, vehicles 101-104 optionally may have paid for their orders by cash,credit card, debit card, smart card or other payment means located atorder station 78, or at a location provided between order station 78 andprimary food delivery window 84. Drive-thru vehicle 101 has pulled upand adjacent to primary food delivery window 84 where payment will becollected by attendant A, if payment has not previously been made.Attendant A also will make delivery of an order to vehicle 101 throughprimary food delivery window 84, in instances where the order is readyfor delivery. Vehicle 100 has placed, paid for, and received delivery ofits order, and has proceeded downstream along drive-thru lane 30 toprepare to exit from premises 10 at egress 22c.

When vehicle 101 first pulls up to primary food delivery window 84,attendant A inspects the then pending drive-thru orders, i.e., thoseorders that have been previously ordered but not yet delivered to adrive-thru customer. Pending orders are available for inspection byattendant A by any suitable means. Preferably, pending orders areelectronically stored and can be accessed and displayed at cash register80. Thus, for example, the pending orders, including any delayed orders,are viewable at the display screen of cash register 80 located proximateto primary food delivery window 84. Attendant A can thereby convenientlymonitor the status of all pending orders. When attendant A becomes awarethat an order is ready for delivery, attendant A can view the displayscreen of cash register 80 to view the vehicle license plate numbermatched to that order, and then make delivery of that order to thecorrect vehicle. Alternatively, the pending orders may be accessed byattendant A in some other suitable manner, such as printouts of thepending orders including associated photographs or other vehicleidentification information. Pending orders may also include a timestamp, or be sequentially numbered, to aid attendant A in determiningthe correct vehicle for a pending order that becomes ready for delivery,such as, for example, vehicle 101 now present at primary delivery window84.

Once the order is matched, attendant A can inspect the order shown onthe display or printout to determine if payment has been previouslymade. In the event payment needs to be collected, such fact may behighlighted in red type or other prominent notice. The information on amatched order can also be used by attendant A to determine if allordered items are included in the package, or other container, to bedelivered to vehicle 101. If the order for vehicle 101 is ready fordelivery and payment has been made, the order is passed through primaryfood delivery window 84 to the driver of vehicle 101. Vehicle 101 thenpulls forward along drive-thru lane 30 to exit the premises at egress22c or if desired egress 22b.

If the order is not yet ready for delivery to vehicle 101, attendant Astill collects payment in instances where payment was not previouslymade. Thereafter, attendant A informs the driver of vehicle 101 that theorder will be ready shortly, and requests vehicle 101 to pull ahead toin-line vehicle waiting area 120. Target markings 125a-b are provided ondrive-thru lane 30 to delineate the target location for a driver who isdirected to pull ahead to await delivery of a delayed order. Each of theone or more in-line vehicle waiting spaces preferably will have its owntarget marking 125, such as target markings 125a, 125b indicating thetarget for a driver of a vehicle that is to wait for a delayed orderdelivery at in-line vehicle waiting spaces 122 and 124, respectively.Target markings 125a-b may also include indicia such as numbers, e.g.,“1” and “2” for in-line vehicle waiting spaces 122, 124, respectively.

Depending on the number of delayed orders being experienced, or forother reasons, attendant A may at times deem it advisable to direct acustomer having a delayed order to the more downstream in-line vehiclewaiting space 124, rather than the closer in-line vehicle waiting space122. In this way, if a subsequent delayed order is experienced beforedelivery is made to a vehicle waiting at in-line vehicle waiting space124, the vehicle having the subsequent delayed order can enter anin-line vehicle waiting space by driving directly forward to in-linevehicle waiting space 122. To direct vehicle 101 to in-line vehiclewaiting space 124 when both in-line vehicle waiting spaces 122, 124 arefree, attendant A may request the vehicle 101, to please “pull forwardto the space number 2” or “pull forward to the farthest space” andinform the customer that attendant A will bring the order to the vehicleshortly.

FIG. 2 illustrates a point in time subsequent to the point in timerepresented by FIG. 1, wherein vehicle 101 has moved forward as directedby attendant A. At the option of attendant A, vehicle 101 has beendirected to park at in-line vehicle waiting space 124 to await deliveryof its delayed order. With vehicle 101 now having moved forward, accessto primary food delivery window 84 has been made available for upstreamvehicle 102. When vehicle 102 arrives at primary food delivery window84, attendant A is available to provide drive-thru service for vehicle102. Such service is provided in the same manner previously described inconnection with vehicle 101. Specifically, attendant A locates andmatches the applicable order for vehicle 102, requests and receivespayment for the order for vehicle 102, if it has not been previouslypaid, and determines if the order for vehicle 102 is prepared, packagedand ready for delivery.

If the order is ready, attendant A hands the order through primary fooddelivery window 84 to vehicle 102. After taking delivery of the order atprimary food delivery window 84, vehicle 102 is ready to exit premises10. A direct pathway for vehicle 102 to egress 22c is blocked by vehicle101 waiting at in-line vehicle waiting space 124 in drive-thru lane 30.In such instance, vehicle 102 turns outwardly into segment 128 ofpass-through lane 62 and then continues forward in bypass lane 62 topass vehicle 101 waiting at in-line vehicle waiting space 124. Afterpassing vehicle 101, vehicle 102 can turn inwardly into drive-thru lane30 and exit premises 10 at egress 22c. Alternatively, vehicle 102 canremain in bypass lane 62 and exit premises 10 at egress 22b. It can beappreciated that while only one of egresses 22b,c is required,preferably at least two egresses 22b,c are provided so as to avoid aback-up of vehicles waiting to exit premises 10. To provide increasedtraffic flow into premises 10, premises 10 also may have additionalingresses located in keeping with the teachings of the presentinvention.

If the order for vehicle 102 is not ready for delivery, attendant Adirects vehicle 102 to pull forward to in-line vehicle waiting space 122to await delivery of the delayed order. FIG. 3 illustrates both ofvehicles 101 and 102 having moved to positions at in-line vehiclewaiting spaces 124 and 122, respectively, to await delivery of theirdelayed orders. With vehicles 101 and 102 so waiting, primary fooddelivery window 84 has become accessible for servicing vehicle 103.

At primary food delivery window 84, vehicle 103 receives customarydrive-thru service as previous described. If vehicle 103 has a readyorder for which payment has been collected, the order is passed throughprimary food delivery window 84 by attendant A to vehicle 103. Vehicle103 is then ready to exit premises 10 by maneuvering around waitingvehicles 102 and 101. Waiting spaces 122 and 126 are of sufficientlength to permit this by allowing a gap 132 between vehicle 103 at thewaiting space 126 at primary food delivery window 84 and the immediatelydownstream vehicle 102 at in-line vehicle waiting space 122. Gap 132provides a sufficient distance between the rear 134 of vehicle 102 andthe front 138 of vehicle 103 so that vehicle 103 can drive forward andaround vehicle 102 without having to backup. Gap 132 typically will be asufficient distance when the center-to-center distance between vehicles102 and 103 is about 30 feet or as otherwise needed for typical vehiclesthat are contemplated for the drive-thru. This can conveniently beaccomplished providing a longitudinal spacing typically of about 30 feetfrom the center of primary food delivery window 84 and the center oftarget area 125a. Another way of providing a sufficient distance for gap132 is by locating the center of target area 125c for primary fooddelivery window 84 and the center of target area 125a a distance ofabout 30 feet apart. Typically, the size of the vehicle waiting spaces,such as vehicle waiting spaces 122, 124, will be sufficient toaccommodate a full-sized pick-up truck or full-sized sedan, but can besized as desired. To exit premises 10, vehicle 103 turns into bypasslane segment 128 and proceeds past vehicles 102 and 101 to egress 22b.Primary food delivery window 84 is now available for servicingdrive-thru vehicle 104, as shown in FIG. 4.

When a delayed order becomes available for either of delayed orderwaiting vehicles 101 or 102 waiting in in-line vehicle waiting area 120,the present invention allows such order to be quickly delivered tominimize the period of time that attendant A is absent from primarypick-up window 84. This can best be appreciated by viewing FIGS. 7 and8, along with FIGS. 3 and 4. In FIGS. 7 and 8 it can be seen that fooddelivery area 82 has door 130 and a doorway 140. Doorway 140 providesdirect access to an attendant runway 142 for use by attendant A to makedelivery of a delayed order when it becomes ready to a vehicle waitingin one of in-line vehicle waiting spaces 122 or 124. It is noted thatdoorway 140 is located in close proximity to primary food deliverywindow 84 so that attendant A can quickly exit doorway 140 to makedelivery of a delayed order to a vehicle in in-line vehicle waiting area120.

For example, when an order becomes ready for vehicle 101, attendant Acan utilize the aforementioned order matching means to determine thatthe order that is now ready is the order for waiting vehicle 101. Onceso determined, attendant A leaves position 144 in food delivery area 82,exits building 14 via doorway 140 and walks along attendant runway 142to position 146 adjacent the driver of vehicle 101. It is noted thatdoorway 140, in addition to being proximate to primary food deliverywindow 84, is also proximate to attendant runway 142 which, in turn, isproximate to in-line vehicle waiting area 120. The proximity of primaryfood delivery window 84, doorway 140, runway 142 and in-line vehiclewaiting area 120 relative to each other is important to allow relativelyrapid delivery of a delayed order by attendant A to a waiting vehicle.Due to the proximity of window 84 and in-line vehicle waiting area 120,and the direct path therebetween through doorway 140, attendant A canmake delivery of a delayed order and return to window 84, without anappreciable slowing down of the customary functions needed to beperformed at primary food delivery window 84, including order taking,payment receiving and order delivery. Alternatively, another attendantcan deliver the delayed order to a vehicle at in-line waiting area 120.

Once the order is delivered to vehicle 101, vehicle 101 may then pullforward along drive-thru lane 30 to exit the premises at egress 22c.Attendant A then returns along attendant runway 142, passes throughdoorway 140 into building 14 to attendant position 144 at food deliveryarea 82. Having quickly returned to position 144 in food delivery area82 attendant A continues to service vehicles in the drive-thru ordersystem. If the delayed order for vehicle 102 had become ready before thedelayed order for vehicle 101, attendant A would deliver the ready orderto vehicle 102 by exiting building 14 at doorway 140 to attendant runway142, and walking along attendant runway 142 to attendant position 148adjacent the driver of vehicle 102. Attendant A would then deliver theorder to vehicle 102, while vehicle 101, at in-line vehicle waitingspace 124, continues to wait for delivery of its delayed order. Afterthe order is delivered to vehicle 102, vehicle 102 may conveniently exitpremises 10 despite the fact that vehicle 101 blocks the direct pathalong drive-thru lane 30 to egress 22c. This is because the spaces 122and 124 are situated so that the gap 150 between waiting vehicle 101 and102 is sufficient that vehicle 102 can readily maneuver past downstreamwaiting vehicle 101 without having to back up. To do so, vehicle 102turns outwardly into segment 128 of bypass lane 62. Thereafter, vehicle102 may proceed forward past vehicle 101, and once past vehicle 101,return to drive-thru lane 30 to exit premises 10 at egress 22c.Alternatively, vehicle 102 may choose to exit by use of egress 22b.Similarly, as discussed previously regarding gap 132, gap 150 typicallywill be a sufficient distance when the center-to-center spacing ofvehicles 101 and 102 is about 30 feet. One way of providing such spacingbetween vehicles 101 and 102 is to situate target areas 125a and 125b sothat their respective center-to-center spacing is about 30 feet.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show building 14 and in-line vehicle waiting area 120 ingreater detail. A barrier 152 may be provided that is located betweenattendant runway 142 and drive-thru lane 30 to protect attendant A fromvehicular traffic. Barrier 152 preferably is formed of a sturdyconstruction, such as, for example, brick, stone, concrete or concreteblock to be capable of adequately protecting attendant A in case avehicle impacts barrier 152. However, a lighter weight construction oreven a portable type barrier 152 could alternatively be used, and stillprovide some level of protection from vehicular traffic for anattendant, or some other person, on attendant runway 142. Barrier 152may be a wall that extends a sufficient distance from a point proximateto doorway 140 along in-line waiting area 120 to adequately protectattendant A's activities on attendant runway 142. Barrier 152 may be awall that is approximately waist high to enable attendant A to easilypass packages containing an order to the driver of a vehicle. However,barrier 152 may be substantially higher and include one or more openingstherein to provide convenient locations to allow attendant A on runway142 to pass orders through such openings to a vehicle waiting at in-linevehicle waiting spaces 122 or 124. Barrier 152 may also be provided inthe form of a continuation of an exterior wall of building 14 thatextends downstream past doorway 140 and is located between in-linevehicle waiting area 120 and attendant runway 142.

A display screen 154 for displaying information about a delayed order isprovided for viewing by drivers of vehicles waiting in in-line vehiclewaiting area 120. In instances where in-line vehicle waiting area 120includes more than one inline vehicle waiting space, such as in-linevehicle waiting spaces 122, 124, preferably each in-line vehicle waitingspace will have a separate display screen 154a, 154b, respectively.Display screens 154a, 154b are positioned to be individually viewable bydrivers of vehicles 102, 101, such as adjacent or slightly ahead oftarget location markings 125a-b at in-line vehicle waiting spaces 122and 124, respectively. Display screen 154 may be secured to barrier 152or at other locations whereby the display screen 154 is readily viewableby drivers when at in-line vehicle waiting spaces 122,124. Displayscreen 154 alternatively may be mounted on wall 156 of building 14.Depending on the location mounted, display screen 154 may be angled toprovide better viewing by a driver of a waiting vehicle.

Display screens 154 are connected to communicate with the drive-thrucomputer system, for example the point-of-sale cash register 80, todisplay information specific to the respective orders of vehicles 101and 102. Such communication may be by any suitable means, including hardwiring, networking, or wireless connection. The information displayed atdisplay screens 154 typically includes the items ordered, individualprices of the items and the total pricing for a specific delayed order.When attendant A directs a vehicle with a delayed order forward toin-line vehicle waiting area 120, attendant A causes the specific orderinformation to be displayed at display 154.

Attendant A causes the order for a vehicle to be displayed on a displayscreen 154a or 154b, for the in-line vehicle waiting space 122 or 124,respectively, that attendant A chooses to direct a vehicle to proceed tofor awaiting delivery of an order. For example, if attendant A directsvehicle 102 forward to in-line vehicle waiting space 122, attendant Acauses that specific delayed order information to be electronicallydisplayed at display screen 154a. Causing order information to bedisplayed on a display screen 154 may be accomplished by any suitablemeans, such as, for example, attendant A making a keyboard or touchscreen entry at point-of-sale computerized cash register 80 to cause thedelayed order information for vehicle 101 to be displayed on display154b for in-line waiting space 124. Similarly, for example, if vehicle102 has a delayed order and is to be directed to in-line vehicle waitingspace 122, attendant A would make entries at point-of-sale computerizedcash register 80 to cause the delayed order information for vehicle 102to be displayed at display 154a. Thus, the drivers of vehicles 101, 102can verify that they are waiting at the correct one of in-line vehiclewaiting spaces 124, 122 to await delivery of their delayed orders. Theinformation displayed on display 154 may also include updates concerningwhen the order will be ready and other messages such as a reminder thatthe attendant will be delivering their meal, to be aware of traffic ontheir right, or other messages, promotions or advertising that thefacility management deems advantageous.

Once a delayed order is delivered to a vehicle and such vehicle exitspremises 10, the vacated space is then available for a subsequentdelayed order for an upstream vehicle. At times, in-line vehicle waitingspace 124 will become vacated while in-line vehicle waiting space 122 isoccupied. In this case, a subsequent vehicle having a delayed order can,in the discretion of attendant A, be instructed by attendant A atprimary food delivery window 84 to pull forward around in-line vehiclewaiting space 122 to wait at in-line vehicle waiting space 124 or “spacenumber 2” if so delineated by markings 125b. Alternatively, and also atthe option of attendant A, in order to make it easier for a vehicle withthe subsequent delayed order to enter in-line vehicle waiting area 120,a vehicle waiting in space 122 may be requested to move forward toin-line vehicle waiting space 124, or space “Number 2”, if so delineatedby markings 125b. Display screen 154a may also be used to communicate arequest to a driver of a vehicle waiting at in-line vehicle waitingspace 122 to proceed forward to a vacant in-line vehicle waiting space124. This could be done by attendant A making entries at computerizedcash register 80 to cause display 154a to provide a message to proceedforward. The message displayed may read for example, “Please proceedforward to next space” or “Please proceed forward to space #2, yourorder will be delivered shortly.” This specific delayed orderinformation for the vehicle asked to proceed forward is then displayedon display 154b at in-line vehicle waiting space 124. Thus, when thevehicle moving forward arrives at in-line vehicle waiting space 124 andreads display screen 154b, the driver will know that he has followedcommunicated instructions correctly. The instruction to move forward canbe made at any time after a vehicle has received delivery of a delayedorder and exited in-line vehicle waiting space 124. Optionally, meansmay be provided for allowing attendant A, when positioned proximate toprimary food delivery window 84, to request a vehicle to move forwardfrom in-line vehicle waiting space 122 to in-line vehicle waiting space124. To accomplish this, a microphone or other communication device atprimary food delivery window 84 is provided to communicate instructionsfrom attendant A to a communication device such as a speaker locatedwithin audible range of the driver of a vehicle waiting at in-linevehicle waiting space 122. A communication device, such as a microphone,may also be provided proximate to in-line vehicle waiting space 122 sothat a driver of a vehicle waiting thereat can communicate withattendant A through a speaker positioned proximate to primary fooddelivery window 84. A speaker and microphone may also be providedproximate to in-line vehicle waiting space 124 to allow communication byattendant A with vehicles at either of in-line vehicle waiting spaces122, 124. Such communication may include providing updates or answeringquestions regarding a delayed order for a vehicle waiting in in-linevehicle waiting spaces 122, 124.

With in-line vehicle waiting space 122 now vacated after a vehicle hasmoved from in-line vehicle waiting space 122 to in-line vehicle waitingspace 124, an upstream vehicle with a subsequent delayed order canconveniently pull forward to in-line vehicle waiting space 122 to awaitdelivery, rather than having to maneuver around a vehicle waiting inin-line vehicle waiting space 122 to thereby reach in-line vehiclewaiting space 124. Instructions to move forward may also be given byattendant A as attendant A is returning to doorway 140 after makingdelivery of an order to vehicle 101 waiting in in-line vehicle waitingspace 124. Optionally, a remote outside electronic data entry means (notshown) may be provided adjacent runway 142 to allow for attendant A tocause displays screens 154a, 154b to change their displayed informationand request a vehicle to proceed forward.

Proximity sensors 94 in communication with the computer of thedrive-thru system may be provided for automatically causing displayscreen 154a to instruct vehicle 102 to move forward when it is sensed avehicle has left in-line vehicle waiting space 124. When proximitysensors 94 sense that vehicle 101 has moved forward under theabove-described conditions, the order for vehicle 102 is caused to beautomatically displayed on displays 154a,b as previously described.Proximity sensors 94 may also be provided at additional locations in,on, or adjacent to drive-thru lane 30 to provide an indication toattendant A, by suitable means such as through the computer means of thedrive-thru system, of the presence and location of vehicles within thedrive-thru lane 30.

Display screens 154 may also be made to be viewable by attendant A toensure that attendant A delivers the proper order to the proper vehicle.For example, display screens 154, or additional displays on the top orinside surface of barrier 152 or elsewhere, may display the photographused in matching the order to the vehicle. An overhang or roof 158 mayalso be provided to protect the area of the attendant runway 142 anddisplays 154 from the elements.

The increased efficiencies of the drive-thru system operated inaccordance with principles of the present invention provide a number ofcompetitive advantages. These include increased throughput of drive-thrurates of customer orders placed and delivered; potential elimination ofthe need for a separate dedicated payment window in addition to aprimary food order delivery window; potential reduction of lot squarefootage and/or reduction of the square footage of paved areas in the lotby having drive-thru lane 30 also include the integrated in-line vehiclewaiting area 120, so that a separate area outside drive-thru lane 30 isnot required to serve as a vehicle waiting area; and reduced labor costsrelative to throughput quantity due to the increased efficiency ofattendant A (i.e., because labor from another attendant or attendants isreduced or eliminated).

A major factor contributing to the latter advantage is the closeproximity of in-line vehicle waiting area 120 relative to an attendant,such as attendant A, positioned at primary food delivery window 84, andthe close proximity of attendant position 144 to doorway 140 leading toattendant runway 142. When a delayed order is experienced, attendant Ais thereby able to expedite delivery of delayed orders with limited timeaway from primary delivery window 84. Thus, the performance of customaryfunctions performed at position 144 by attendant A continues with only amomentary interruption. This is especially true in comparison to asituation where a customer experiencing a delayed order might haveremained at a delivery window and thus caused a back-up of drive-thrulane service, or if the customer had been asked to park and wait in anarea remote from drive-thru-lane 30, or where access to the outside fordelivery of delayed orders is made via a door that is remote from acustomary delivery window position 144. In such cases attendant A's timeaway from customary position 144 while customary duties are not beingperformed would significantly reduce hourly throughput of the drive-thrusystem. In the present invention throughput is not only maintained, butit is accomplished without the use of the services of one or moreadditional attendants, such as to make delayed order deliveries whichwould add to the labor costs for the operation of the facility.

A fast food facility using the drive-thru system of the presentinvention can achieve high throughput rates while avoiding the need foradditional attendants and/or minimizing occurrences of instances whenadditional labor might be required to handle exceptional drive-thruvehicular volume.

For example, the system and method of the present invention can handle avehicle throughput for order placement, order payment and order deliverycompletion at the rate of at least 240 cars per hour (CPH). Moreover, inproviding these throughput rates, it was determined that no additionalattendant labor costs would likely be routinely incurred to supportdelivery of delayed orders to vehicles waiting for and receiving delayedorder deliveries in in-line vehicle waiting area 120. Vehicles with adelayed order that were directed forward to in-line vehicle waiting area120, received delivery of their delayed orders on the average of about24 seconds from the time they had moved forward from primary fooddelivery window 84 to in-line vehicle waiting area 120.

FIG. 5 illustrates a second embodiment of the present invention whereinin-line vehicle waiting space 122, which is the closest in-line vehiclewaiting space to primary food delivery window 84, is accessible byattendant A to make a delivery of a delayed order from a secondary fooddelivery window 164 without walking outside. Delivery to the second,more downstream in-line vehicle waiting space 124 is made by attendant Awalking outside building 14. FIG. 5 shows an attendant runway 162 thatincludes an inside upstream portion 170 and a downstream outside portion160. Upstream portion 170 of attendant runway 162 is sheltered from theoutside environment by outer building wall portion 156 and by a door 174at a doorway 172 that divides inside upstream portion 170 of attendantrunway 162 and outside portion 160 of attendant runway 162. Delivery ofa delayed order may be made by attendant A walking along an enclosedpathway 168 in upstream portion 170 of attendant runway 162 to travelbetween primary food delivery area 82 and secondary food delivery window164. As shown in FIG. 5, outside portion 160 of attendant runway 162 ispositioned along a building wall portion 171 and barrier 152. Deliveryof a delayed food order to the second more downstream in-line vehicularwaiting space 124 is made by attendant A passing through doorway 172 andthen walking along the outside portion 160 of the attendant runway 162to in-line vehicle space 124. In this embodiment, the food delivery area82 of building 14 retains primary food delivery window 84 from whichattendant A positioned adjacent thereto provides the same services fordrive-thru customers as previously described. These services includereceiving orders from order stations 78, collecting order payments notpreviously made, delivering ready orders to vehicles through primaryfood delivery window 84, operating computerized cash register 80, anddirecting customers with delayed orders to move forward to in-linevehicle waiting spaces 122 or 124. Typically, only deliveries of delayedorders will take place at secondary food delivery window 164, and notthe taking of an order or payment therefor, or the operation ofcomputerized cash register 80, although such operation could beperformed wirelessly by attendant A when not at window 84, withappropriate equipment, such as a wireless keyboard to input orders intoregister 80, for example.

Thus, an inside enclosed pathway 168 is provided for quick back andforth movement of attendant A between primary food delivery window 84and secondary food delivery window 164. Also, since doorway 172 isproximate to secondary food delivery window 164 which, in turn, is alsoproximate to primary window 84, attendant A stationed at primarydelivery window 84, can rapidly make delivery to either of in-linevehicle waiting spaces 122 or 124 and then quickly return to primaryfood delivery window 84.

More specifically, in the case of delivering a delayed order matched tovehicle 101 at in-line vehicle waiting space 124, attendant A travelsalong the inside pathway 168 from primary delivery window 84, proceedingdownstream past secondary delivery window 164 to doorway 172 and walksoutside along outside portion 160 of runway 162 to vehicle 101 waitingat in-line vehicle waiting space 124. Thereafter, attendant A hands theorder to the driver of vehicle 101.

In the case of making an inside delivery of a delayed order at secondarydelivery window 164, attendant A moves from a position that may beproximate primary window 84, traveling along the enclosed pathway 168 ofupstream portion 170 of runway 162 to a position at secondary deliverywindow 164 and passes the order therethrough to vehicle 102. Thereafter,attendant A may return to a position at primary delivery window 84 tocontinue servicing drive-thru vehicles. Alternatively, at least aportion of inside pathway 168 between primary delivery window area 82and the secondary food delivery area 164 may be defined by a hallwaywithin building 14. Inside pathway 168 may also alternatively beprovided by including structure (not shown) to enclose an upstreamportion of an attendant walkway located outside of building 14. Forexample, referring to FIG. 4, doorway 140 and door 130 could berelocated downstream to a position that is between in-line waiting space122 and in-line waiting space 124. The upstream portion of the attendantwalkway 142 that is upstream from the relocated doorway could then beenclosed by structure to provide an enclosed inside attendant runwaywith a delivery window adjacent in-line waiting space 122. Such aninside attendant runway portion would be used by attendant A to make adelayed food order delivery to in-line waiting space 122 without havingto leave a sheltered space. The outside portion of the attendant runwaywould be used to deliver delayed orders to in-line waiting space 124 bypassing through the relocated doorway 140.

In any case, inside pathway 168 preferably provides a direct andrelatively straight and unobstructed pathway between primary fooddelivery window 84, secondary delivery window 164 and doorway 172 thatopens to outside portion 160 of attendant runway 162. Moreover, it isalso preferable that doorway 172 be situated so that attendant A canwalk along a relatively straight path from primary food delivery window84, or from secondary food delivery window 164, to a position adjacent avehicle in in-line vehicle waiting space 124 without having to turn anycorners, so as to allow quick delivery and return to primary fooddelivery window 84 to continue servicing drive-thru customers.

FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the present invention that is amodification of the drive-thru system shown in FIG. 5. In thisembodiment drive-thru lane 30 includes a third in-line vehicle waitingspace 176. Thus, the drive-thru lane illustrated in FIG. 6 has onein-line vehicle waiting space 122 that is accessible by attendant A atsecondary window 164 without attendant A having to walk outdoors, andtwo outside in-line vehicle waiting spaces 124 and 176 that are accessedby attendant A after passing through doorway 172 to outside portion 160of runway 162. In this modification, depending upon the length of side182 of building 14, primary food delivery window 84 and secondary fooddelivery window 164 may need to be shifted towards the rear side 180 ofbuilding 14 to accommodate third in-line vehicle waiting space 176.

While not a requirement, it is preferable that primary food deliverywindow 84, optional secondary food delivery window 164, and in-linevehicle waiting spaces 122,124 and optional third in-line vehiclewaiting space 176, all be located along the same side of building 14,such as side 182. This allows attendant A to view the progression ofdownstream and upstream vehicles from a single location to aid in theefficient management of the vehicle flow through the drive-thru system.

FIG. 9 shows an alternative embodiment for placing drive-thru orders. Inthis embodiment, lot layout 12 includes a drive-thru lane 30 with anin-line ordering area 200. In-line ordering area 200 includes aplurality of order stations 202a-c that are arranged in series, ratherthan the previously described parallel arrangement of order stations 78shown in FIG. 1. Typically, in-line order area 200 is situated along astraight line segment of drive-thru lane 30, such as a rear segment 68of drive thru-lane 30. However, in-line order area 200 may also extendaround a corner, such as corner 70. In general, order stations 202 maybe equipped with any suitable means used for placing orders. Preferably,each of order stations 202 is similar in operation to previouslydescribed order stations 78. Thus, each of order stations 202 isequipped to allow drive-thru customers in vehicles 204a-c to place ameal order and pay for the order without leaving their vehicles. Orderstations 202 include two way communication means, such as a speaker andmicrophone, for communicating with an attendant, such as attendant Apositioned at point-of-sale cash register 80 in restaurant building 14as previously described. Verbal orders placed by customers at orderstations 202 are entered by attendant A into point-of-sale cash register80. Once a food order is entered, the order is displayed on the displayscreen at order station 202 for viewing by the customer. Order stations202a-c may also have touch screen and/or keypad entry means to allowcustomers to place an order without assistance from an attendant. Eachorder station 202 additionally may include payment means to allow acustomer in a vehicle 204 parked at order station 202 to pay for thefood order. Payment means may include equipment for allowing payment bycash or with a swipecard, such as a credit card, debit card, smart card,RFID card, or gift card. The tracking of orders placed at order stations202 may be accomplished by any suitable means known to those skilled inthe art, such as the previously described equipment and methodsutilizing a camera at order stations 202 to take an image of thevehicle, license plate, or driver of the vehicle.

In order to maximize order throughput rates, it important to maximizethe accessibility to unoccupied order stations 202 for vehiclesapproaching the in-line order area 200. Therefore, an in-line order areatraffic control system preferably is provided to reduce the likelihoodthat an upstream vehicle 204d will be required to wait for access to oneof order stations 202. For example, this can occur if a vehicle isordering at order station 202c at a time when order stations 202a and/or202b are vacant. The automated in-line order area traffic control systemincludes a computerized traffic controller 208 and a plurality ofvehicle sensing devices 210 to automatically determine the location ofvehicles 204, including when a vehicle 204 is present at one of orderstations 202.

Vehicle sensing devices 210 may be any suitable sensing device, such asa proximity sensor positioned along drive-thru lane segment 68, or asensor placed within target markings 212a-c at order stations 202a-c,respectively. Additional vehicle sensing devices 210 may also be locatedalong drive-thru lane 30 to determine the presence of vehicles atlocations upstream and downstream of in-line vehicle order area 200.This sensed information may also be used by traffic controller 208 indetermining the nature of traffic directions provided to vehicles 204.Vehicle sensing devices 210 automatically communicate the sensed vehicleposition information to computerized traffic controller 208, typicallylocated within restaurant building 14. Vehicle sensing devices 210 andtraffic controller 208 may communicate through hard wiring or throughwireless means. To control the traffic within in-line ordering area 200,traffic controller 208 includes a program, processor, and electronicstorage means. The traffic control system may be a separate system ormay be incorporated into the point-of-sale computerized system.

To accomplish the objective of maximizing access to order stations 202,traffic controller 208 causes traffic instructions to be communicated tothe drivers of vehicles 204. For example, as vehicle 204d approachesin-line order area 200, directions are automatically given to proceed tothe most downstream available order station 202. Thus, if all ordersstations 202a-c are unoccupied, vehicle 204d entering the in-lineordering area 200 is automatically directed to the most downstreamavailable order station 202a, rather than 202b or 202c. If order station202a is occupied, vehicle 204d approaching in-line order area 200 isdirected to the most downstream available order station 202b, ratherthan 202c. To aid the drivers of vehicles 204 in following thedirections provided, each of order stations 202a-c may be assigned anidentifying number. For example, order stations 202a-c may be assignednumbers 1, 2, or 3, respectively. These numbers may be displayed attarget markings 212a-c, respectively, and/or other locations proximateto order stations 202a-c. The traffic control directions arecommunicated to vehicle drivers in or entering the in-line ordering area200. The traffic control directions may be communicated to vehicledrivers by displaying directions on the display screens used to placeorders at order stations 202. Alternatively, or additionally, trafficdirections may be displayed on one or more separate traffic controldevices 216a-c, which may be any suitable signaling means such as adisplay screen or other means, such as traffic lights which may be stopand go lights or other suitable signaling devices. Traffic signalingdevices 216 may also include a speaker that plays pre-recorded audiotraffic directions. Typically, traffic directions will at least bedisplayed on the display screens of order stations 202 so that thedisplay screens function as a traffic signaling device. Signalingdevices 216 communicate with controller 208 thru hard wiring or wirelessmeans.

In one exemplary instance, all of order stations 202a-c are sensed to beunoccupied by a vehicle. In this case, traffic controller 208 will causethe traffic signaling devices 216b and 216c to provide trafficdirections, such as by displaying a message as “Please proceed forwardto order station Number 1 to place an order”. Also in this sameinstance, control system 208 automatically disables order stations 202band 202c so as not to allow a customer to enter an order thereat. Thisfurther prompts a vehicle to proceed past order stations 202c and 202bto order station 202a. In another exemplary instance, when order station202a is occupied, and 202b and 202c are unoccupied, traffic controller208 will automatically display instructions, at least at signalingdevice 216c, that directs upstream vehicle 204d to proceed to orderstation 202b to place an order. At the same time traffic controller 208automatically disables order station 202c from receiving a food orderuntil it is sensed that vehicle 204d has moved past order station 202c.

After an order is placed at an order station 202, traffic directions aredisplayed at that signaling device 216 proximate to the order station202 where the order has been placed, to prompt the vehicle having placedan order to moved further downstream. Such directions, for example, maybe “Please proceed to the delivery window to pick up your order.” Thissame message may be displayed at all further downstream unoccupied orderstations 202 from the order station 202 where the order was placed. Forexample, if a vehicle 204 finishes placing an order at order station202c, and order stations 202a and 202b are unoccupied, the message“Please proceed to the delivery window to pick up your order” isdisplayed at the display of order station 202c, and preferably also 202band 202a, and/or other traffic signaling devices 216a, 216b and 216c. Bydisplaying such messages, a vehicle having placed an order will bereminded to move downstream from in-line order area 200, and not remainparked in in-line order area 200 for an unnecessary length of time.

Optionally, the automatic traffic control system may be programmed toprovide more specific traffic directions which controller 208 causes tobe displayed to a vehicle that has placed an order at order stations202. As an example, at times a vehicle 204 will have finished placing anorder at order station 202c and order station 202b is unoccupied andorder station 202a is occupied. Since the vehicle at order station 202cdoes not have an unobstructed path to delivery window 84, such vehiclemay need more specific traffic directions to be prompted to moveforward. Thus, rather than a general instruction such as, “Pleaseproceed to the delivery window to pick up your order”, a more specificdirection such as “Please proceed to order station “2” is displayed atorder station 202c. Thereafter, when order station 202a is vacated,traffic controller 208 automatically displays a more general trafficinstruction at order stations 202b and 202a, such as to “Please proceedto the delivery window to pick up your order”.

Where order stations 202 include means for optionally paying at orderstations 202a-c, the timing of the displaying of traffic instructions bycontroller 208 preferably takes this option into account. For example,as part of the ordering process the customer may be requested to answerwhether the customer intends to pay at order station 202 or at deliverywindow 84. If the customer selects to pay at delivery window 84, trafficdirections such as to proceed forward to delivery window 84 areimmediately displayed when ordering is finished. If the customerindicates the payment is to be made at order station 202, trafficcontroller 208 may delay providing traffic directions until the customermakes payment at order station 202. Optionally, for example at times ofa sensed back up of vehicles waiting to enter in-line order area 200,traffic directions may be displayed to direct the vehicle to moveforward and use a downstream order station 202 to make payment. Forexample, a customer having placed an order at order station 202c and whohas selected to pay for the food order at an order station 202 may bedirected to pay at an unoccupied order station 202a or 202b. In thismanner order station 202c more quickly becomes available for use byupstream vehicle 204d.

While the in-line traffic control system has been described inconnection with three in-line order stations 202, when more than threein-line order stations 202 are provided the principles of controllingthe traffic remain the same. Thus, when a vehicle 204 enters in-lineordering area 200, that vehicle is automatically directed to the mostdownstream unoccupied order station 202. The traffic control system alsodirects a vehicle that has already finished placing an order and/orhaving paid for an order, to proceed to delivery window 84, oroptionally forward to the most downstream unoccupied order station 202.

Typically, the traffic control system is most advantageously used forlot layouts of limited space that necessitate the use of a trappedconfiguration for in-line order stations 202. A trapped configuration isone where the in-line order stations 202 are situated so that pullingaround downstream occupied order stations 202 is not possible. However,the in-line traffic control system may still be advantageously used inun-trapped configurations wherein a vehicle may have access to a by-passlane for exiting the in-line ordering area 200 by pulling arounddownstream vehicles. When using an un-trapped configuration, the trafficcontrol system is still advantageous to maximize the availability of theupstream order stations 202 of in-line order area 200. A traffic controlsystem may also be used in a combined parallel and series order stationlayout. An example of a combined parallel and series order stationlayout would be one having parallel ordering lane segments, such assegments 72, 74 shown in FIG. 1, with at least one of the parallelsegments having a plurality of in-line order stations 202. For example,three parallel lane segments, each having three in-line order stations202, would provide a total of nine order stations 202.

Referring to FIG. 10, another embodiment of the invention is shown thatincludes a secondary drive-up system 306 that may be used as analternative option to drive-thru lane 30 for customers desiringdrive-thru service at restaurant building 14. Secondary drive-up system306 includes a combined drive-up order and delivery area 300 thatincludes a plurality of combined drive-up order and delivery stations302. Combined drive-up order and delivery area 300 and combined orderand delivery stations 302 provide a location at which customers invehicles 304a-b, for example, can place orders, pay for orders, and waitthereat for an attendant to deliver the order to vehicles 304. Each oforder stations 302a-d includes parking spaces 308a-d, respectively.Combined order and delivery parking spaces 308 are situated along frontlane 44 adjacent to an attendant walkway 310. Attendant walkway 310 isreadily accessed from attendant runway 162. To use combined order anddelivery area 300, vehicles 304 pull forward from front lane 44 intoparking spaces 308. Thereafter, stations 302a-d may be used to place anorder in a similar manner to that used at order stations 78 and 202.Thus, each of stations 302a-d is equipped with two-way communicationmeans for placing verbal orders. Each of stations 302a-d also providesself-ordering means, such as including a display screen to allowcustomer ordering by touch screen or keypad entries. Stations 302 alsohave payment devices to allow customer payment for an order by anysuitable means including a swipecard, such as credit card, debit cards,gift cards, smart cards or RFID cards. Stations 302 also include meansfor receiving payment by cash and returning change. In general, stations302, like order stations 78 and 202, may use any suitable ordering,payment and order tracking systems known to those skilled in the art.

When a food order placed at one of stations 302 becomes ready fordelivery, attendant A delivers the ready order to vehicle 304 waiting atorder station 302. Typically, in making such delivery attendant Atravels a path along runway 162 and attendant walkway 310 to the vehicle304 parked in the station 302 from which the order originated. Foodorder matching may be accomplished by the previously described means, orautomatically associating the food order to the specific order station302a-d from which the food order is entered. After a ready food orderhas been delivered to one of order stations 302a-d, vehicle 304 backsout from parking space 308 into front lane 44, and proceeds forward toexit the premises at egress 22b or 22c. Optionally, additional combinedorder and delivery stations 302 may be provided, such as at the parkingspaces 314a-d. Typically, payment for the food order will be required tobe made by the customer using payment means at order stations 302.Optionally, however, payment can be allowed to be collected by attendantA when delivering a food order to stations 302.

FIG. 11 illustrates another embodiment of a lot layout that has asecondary drive-thru system. In this embodiment the secondary thru-drivesystem 318 includes a combined drive-thru order and delivery area 320that does not require a vehicle to back-up when using the secondarydrive-thru system. Combined drive-thru order and delivery area 320preferably includes a plurality of lane segments 322a-d which may beaccessed from lane 324. Each of lane segments 322a-d is equipped with anorder station 328a-d that performs the customer ordering and paymentfunctions previously described in connection with order stations 302 ofFIG. 10. Lane segments 322 preferably are of a sufficient length toallow the queuing of vehicles 330 in segments 322 behind vehicles 330a-dplacing an order at order stations 328a-d, respectively. Preferably,rather than delivering a ready order to order stations 328, combinedorder and delivery area 320 includes a downstream common delivery area332 from which deliveries of ready orders can be made to vehicles 330using order stations 328. Typically, common delivery area 332 willinclude a primary common delivery location 334a at which most, if notall, deliveries are made. Combined order and delivery area 320 includeslanes 326a-d to provide paths for vehicles 330a-d from order stations328a-d to common delivery area 332 or more specifically common deliverylocation 334. Typically, common delivery area 332 and/or common deliverylocation 334 will include signage or markings to indicate theirlocation. Preferably, common delivery area 332 and common deliverylocation 334 are located along or proximate to an attendant walkway 336and are also proximate to attendant runway 162. With this arrangement,attendant A may more readily service vehicles using the in-line waitingarea 120, as well as those using the common delivery area 332 to takedelivery of their food order.

At certain times it may be desirous to close off operation of secondarydrive thru-system 318, and direct drive-thru traffic entering premises10 at ingress 20 to use the drive-thru lane 30. This may occur at timeswhen traffic lane 324 is or is about to become backed up with vehicles330 queuing at order stations 328. Thus, the entrance 350 to secondarydrive-through system 318 may include a gate (not shown) or othersignaling means that can be activated to direct vehicles to usedrive-thru lane 30, and not to enter secondary drive-thru system 318.For example, vehicle sensing devices (not shown) may be placed at themost upstream vehicle queuing positions of lanes 322a-d. When all oflanes 322a-d are full of queued vehicles 330, the gate at entrance 350would be automatically closed by a traffic control system. Incomingdrive-thru traffic would be directed to use drive-thru lane 30 until itis sensed that secondary drive-thru system 318 once again has capacityto accept additional drive-thru vehicles. When additional capacity isavailable, the gate at entrance 350 would be automatically reopened, andany signals directing vehicles to drive-thru lane 30 would then beturned off. The traffic control system could also be used toselectively, or automatically, close down secondary drive-thru system318 at other desired times. For example, the secondary drive-thru system318 might be closed down later at night for security reasons.Additionally, secondary drive-thru system 318 might be closed off whendrive-thru lane 30 is not experiencing heavy traffic. Such a trafficcontrol system may also be incorporated into secondary drive-up system306 shown in FIG. 10. For example, entrance 352 to secondary drive-upsystem 306 may include a gate that is closed when all of order stations302 are occupied.

FIGS. 10 and 11 also illustrate an embodiment wherein attendant runway162 is inside restaurant building 14. Inside attendant runway 162preferably is partitioned by an interior hallway wall 346. In thisembodiment, deliveries to vehicles in the in-line waiting area 120 aremade by attendant A by passing a food order through one of pass throughopenings 338a or 338b that appear in an outside wall 340 of restaurantbuilding 14. Typically, this will be a pass-thru window that isslideable to open and close pass-thru opening 338 as necessary. The end342 of runway 162 includes an egress, such as doorway 344 to provideattendant access to attendant walkway 336 and common delivery area 332.Referring to FIG. 11, when an order placed at one of order stations 328becomes ready for delivery, the display at the applicable order station328 displays a message that the order is now ready. Additionally, amessage is displayed to instruct the vehicle 330 with the ready order toproceed to common delivery area 332. Typically, deliveries of ready foodorders are made at the more specific common delivery location 334a.However, at times deliveries optionally may be made at an alternativedelivery location 334b, typically also located on or proximate toattendant walkway 336. Other suitable signaling means known to thoseskilled in the art alternatively may be used to prompt vehicle 330 toproceed to the common delivery area 332 or more specifically commondelivery location 334. In FIG. 11 attendant A is shown having exitedattendant runway 162 at doorway 344 and standing at common deliverylocation 334a to make delivery to vehicle 330e. Delivery can be madethrough the passenger side window of vehicle 330e, or by attendant Awalking to the driver's side of vehicle 330e to deliver the food order.Thereafter, vehicle 330e can exit premises 10 by turning left to proceedto egress 22b or 22c without having to backup to do so, or at any othertime in using the secondary drive-thru system. It is noted that whileattendant A typically will deliver ready orders from common deliveryarea 332, attendant A could also, at least in some instances, make foodorder deliveries directly to vehicles 330 parked at order stations 328.

While the invention has been described with respect to certain preferredembodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is capable ofnumerous changes, modifications and rearrangements without departingfrom the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicular drive-thru food ordering anddelivering system comprising; a lot having a vehicular ingress andvehicular egress thereto; a building for receiving and fillingdrive-thru customer orders for delivery to customers, the buildinghaving a primary food delivery window for passing food orders throughthe primary food delivery window to a drive-thru customer; a vehiculardrive-thru lane situated on the lot and passing adjacent to the primaryfood delivery window, the vehicular drive-thru lane accessible from thelot vehicular ingress and having access to the lot vehicular egress; atleast one order station located remote from the building and along thevehicular drive-thru lane and upstream of the primary food deliverywindow; an in-line vehicle waiting area located in the vehiculardrive-thru lane a distance downstream of the primary food deliverywindow so that a vehicle may enter the in-line vehicle waiting area bydriving downstream from the primary food delivery window without exitingfrom the vehicular drive-thru lane, the in-line vehicle waiting areaincluding one or more in-line vehicle waiting spaces in which a vehiclecan await delivery of a delayed order, said distance being sufficient toallow an upstream vehicle leaving the primary food delivery window todrive forward and around a downstream vehicle waiting at the in-linevehicle waiting area and to the vehicle egress without backing up; anattendant runway downstream of the primary food delivery window, atleast a portion of the attendant runway positioned in an area outsidethe building and adjacent to the in-line vehicle waiting area to provideat least a portion of a path from the primary food delivery window to avehicle waiting in the in-line vehicle waiting area without requiring anattendant to cross over the vehicular drive-thru lane; a building egressproximate to the primary food delivery window for providing attendantaccess from the primary food delivery window to the portion of theattendant runway that is outside the building to deliver an order to avehicle waiting in the in-line vehicle waiting area; and a secondvehicle lane positioned along at least a portion of the vehiculardrive-thru lane adjacent the in-line vehicle waiting area and being ofsufficient length and width to allow a vehicle leaving the primary fooddelivery window to drive forward and past a downstream vehicle waitingin the in-line vehicle waiting area without having to back up and tothereafter proceed to the lot vehicular egress via the second vehiclelane.
 2. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system ofclaim 1 wherein the building has a first side and the pick-up window islocated in the first side of the building and the attendant runway islocated along the first side of the building and extends along the firstside of the building to provide the path to the in-line vehicle waitingarea.
 3. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system ofclaim 1 wherein the primary food delivery window is used to collectpayment for orders not previously paid for, and the building does nothave another location for receiving payment from a drive-thru customerin a vehicle made to an attendant in the building and the in-linevehicle waiting area has at least one vehicle waiting space that islocated proximate to the primary food delivery window.
 4. The vehiculardrive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 1 furthercomprising a barrier positioned along and between at least a portion ofthe attendant runway and the vehicular drive-thru lane for protecting anattendant on the attendant runway from vehicular traffic.
 5. Thevehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 1further comprising a display positioned adjacent the in-line vehiclewaiting area, the display for displaying information relating to aspecific customer's order.
 6. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering anddelivering system of claim 5 wherein the display is positioned adjacentthe portion of the attendant runway that is located outside thebuilding.
 7. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and deliveringsystem of claim 1 wherein the second vehicle lane is a pass-through lanethat extends along the outer perimeter of the drive-thru lane.
 8. Thevehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 1wherein the in-line vehicle waiting area includes first and secondin-line vehicle waiting spaces, the second in-line vehicle waiting spacebeing located downstream from the first in-line vehicle waiting spaceand the second in-line vehicle waiting space being spaced a sufficientdistance from the first vehicle waiting space so that a vehicle waitingat the first in-line vehicle waiting space can drive forward and arounda vehicle waiting in the second in-line vehicle waiting space withoutbacking up, and the second vehicle lane is of sufficient length andwidth to allow use by a vehicle waiting at the first in-line vehiclewaiting space to drive forward and around a downstream vehicle waitingin the second in-line vehicle waiting space without backing up andthereafter to proceed to the vehicular egress, and the path from theprimary food delivery window to both the first and the second in-linevehicle waiting spaces does not require an attendant to cross thevehicular drive-thru lane to deliver a food order.
 9. The vehiculardrive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 8 furthercomprising a secondary food delivery window located downstream of theprimary food delivery window, the secondary food delivery window beinglocated adjacent the first in-line vehicle waiting space and along anenclosed attendant pathway from the primary food delivery window to thesecondary food delivery window to allow delivery of a delayed orderthrough the secondary food delivery window to a vehicle waiting at thefirst in-line vehicle waiting space, and the second in-line vehiclewaiting space is located downstream of the building egress along theportion of the attendant runway that is outside of the building.
 10. Thevehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 9further characterized by the in-line vehicle waiting area including athird in-line vehicle waiting space, the third in-line vehicle waitingspace located downstream of the second in-line vehicle waiting space andadjacent a portion of the attendant runway that is outside the building.11. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system ofclaim 1 further comprising order matching means for matching a vehiculardrive-thru order with a vehicle and the attendant runway extendsentirely along and adjacent to the vehicular drive-thru lane.
 12. Thevehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 1further comprising: an in-line ordering area located in the vehiculardrive-thru lane upstream of the primary food delivery window, thein-line ordering area including a plurality of in-line order stations; avehicle sensing device capable of detecting if an in-line order stationis unoccupied or occupied by a vehicle and communicating the sensedinformation, a vehicle signaling device capable of providing trafficdirections to vehicles in or entering the in-line ordering area; anin-line ordering area vehicular traffic controller capable of ,receiving occupancy information communicated from the vehicle sensingdevice, and capable of sending a signal to the vehicle signaling devicefor causing traffic directions to be provided by the vehicle signalingdevice to vehicles in or entering the in-line ordering area, whereby thetraffic directions provided prompt a vehicle to proceed past at leastone unoccupied in-line order station to the most downstream unoccupiedin-line order station for placing a food order at the most downstreamunoccupied order station.
 13. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering anddelivering system of claim 12 wherein the traffic controllerautomatically disables an upstream unoccupied in-line order station thatthe vehicle is prompted to pass by while proceeding to the mostdownstream unoccupied in-line order station, the automatic disabling atleast including not accepting orders from the in-line order station thevehicle is directed to pass by when proceeding to the most downstreamunoccupied in-line order station.
 14. The vehicular drive-thru foodordering and delivering system of claim 10 further characterized by adisplay positioned adjacent at least one of the in-line vehicle waitingspaces, the display including information specific to a delayed orderfor a vehicle waiting in the in-line vehicle waiting space adjacent tothe display, the display viewable from said adjacent in-line vehiclewaiting space.
 15. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and deliveringsystem of claim 1 further comprising a second order station locatedalong the vehicular drive-thru lane, the second order station in aparallel configuration with the other order station.
 16. A method ofservicing customers in vehicles in a vehicular drive-thru food orderingand delivering system including a vehicular drive-thru lane with avehicular ingress and a vehicular egress, a primary food delivery windowfor use by an attendant to receive payment for drive-thru orders notpreviously paid for, and to deliver ready orders to customerscomprising, delivering a first food order to a first customer in thevehicular drive-thru lane from the primary food delivery window if thefirst food order for the first customer is a non-delayed order andthereafter allowing the first customer to exit the vehicular drive-thrulane at the vehicular egress; directing the first customer at theprimary food delivery window, if the first order is a delayed order, tomove downstream from the primary food delivery window to wait in adownstream in-line vehicle waiting area that is located in the vehiculardrive-thru lane, the downstream in-line vehicle waiting area also beinglocated proximate to the primary food delivery window; providingdrive-thru service to a second customer in a vehicle that is upstreamfrom the first customer while the first customer waits in the in-linevehicle waiting area for delivery of a delayed first order, thecontinued service for the second customer while the first customer waitsfor the delayed first order including delivering a second order to thesecond customer from the primary food delivery window when the secondorder is a non-delayed order and thereafter allowing the second customerto drive forward and around the first customer without backing up toexit at the vehicular egress; delivering a delayed first order to thefirst customer waiting in the in-line vehicle waiting area when thedelayed first order becomes ready for delivery by an attendant who takesthe then ready delayed first order and exits the building through adoorway provided proximate to the primary food delivery window, andthereafter walks along an outside attendant pathway to the firstcustomer waiting in the in-line vehicle waiting area, wherein theattendant pathway from the primary food delivery window to the customerwaiting in the in-line vehicle waiting area does not cross thedrive-thru lane, and after delivery of the first order to the firstcustomer, allowing the first customer to exit the vehicular drive-thrulane at the vehicular egress.
 17. The method of claim 16 furthercomprising directing the second customer to move away from the primaryfood delivery window and to wait in the downstream in-line vehiclewaiting area if the second order for the second customer is a delayedorder.
 18. The method of claim 17 further comprising, providing an orderplacing station where drive-thru customers can place orders from withintheir vehicles, the drive-thru order station positioned along thevehicular drive-thru lane and positioned remote from the primary foodorder window; providing two in-line vehicle waiting spaces in thein-line vehicle waiting area, providing the primary food delivery windowin a drive-thru restaurant building, wherein the primary food deliverywindow allows an attendant adjacent the primary food delivery window todeliver ready customer orders from within the building by exiting thedoorway to make a delivery of a delayed order outside the building tocustomers waiting in either of the in-line vehicle waiting spaces. 19.The method of claim 16 further comprising, providing a first and asecond in-line vehicle waiting space in the in-line vehicle waitingarea, the second in-line vehicle waiting space located downstream of thefirst parking space, the first and second in-line vehicle waiting spacespositioned along the attendant pathway and at least the second in-linevehicle waiting space being located downstream from the doorway, thefirst in-line vehicle waiting space being located a sufficient distancefrom the second in-line vehicle waiting space so that when a customer iswaiting in each of the first and second in-line vehicle waiting spaces,a customer waiting in the first in-line vehicle waiting space that hasreceived delivery of a delayed order is thereafter allowed to driveforward and around the customer waiting in the second in-line vehiclewaiting space to exit the vehicular drive-thru lane at the vehicularegress without backing up.
 20. The method of claim 18 furthercomprising, displaying information specific to a delayed order at alocation that can be viewed by a customer waiting in the in-line vehiclewaiting area.
 21. The method of claim 16 further comprising, providing asecondary food delivery window, the secondary food delivery window beinglocated upstream of the doorway and accessible by an attendant leavingthe primary food delivery window without the attendant walking outdoors.22. A quick-service restaurant system for providing both vehiculardrive-thru and non-drive-thru customer food ordering comprising, a lot;at least one vehicular ingress and at least one vehicular egress to thelot; a building situated on the lot for preparing drive-thru andnon-drive-thru customer orders and for delivering of the customer ordersto the customers; a vehicle parking lot area having a plurality ofparking spaces for non-drive-thru customers and having vehicular accessto at least one vehicular ingress and at least one vehicular egress forthe lot; a pedestrian pathway for non-drive-thru customers to provide apathway from the vehicle parking lot to the building to allow anon-drive-thru customer to place and receive an order thereat; avehicular drive-thru pathway for drive-thru customers, the drive-thrupathway including at least one drive-thru lane with the drive-thrupathway having an inner perimeter, the vehicular drive-thru lane havingaccess to at least one vehicular ingress and access to at least onevehicular egress to the lot; at least one order station located alongthe drive-thru pathway for placing drive-thru orders by customers invehicles; the building having a delivery window for deliveringdrive-thru orders to a customer in a drive-thru vehicle, the deliverywindow located adjacent to the drive-thru path pathway; and the innerperimeter of the drive-thru pathway being located outwardly from all ofthe parking spaces of the non-drive-thru parking lot area and outwardlyfrom the pedestrian pathways and the building, so that non-drive-thrucustomers can use the parking lot area and the pedestrian pathwaywithout walking through the vehicular drive-thru pathway.
 23. Avehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system comprising: alot having a vehicular ingress and vehicular egress thereto; a buildingfor receiving and filling drive-thru customer orders for delivery tocustomers, the building having a primary food delivery window forpassing food orders through the primary food delivery window to adrive-thru customer; a primary vehicular drive-thru lane situated on thelot and passing adjacent to the primary food delivery window, thevehicular drive-thru lane accessible from the lot vehicular ingress andhaving access to the lot vehicular egress; at least one order stationlocated remote from the building and along the primary vehiculardrive-thru lane and upstream of the primary food delivery window; anin-line vehicle waiting area located in the primary vehicular drive-thrulane a distance downstream of the primary food delivery window so that avehicle may enter the in-line vehicle waiting area by driving downstreamfrom the primary food delivery window without exiting from the primaryvehicular drive-thru lane, the in-line vehicle waiting area includingone or more in-line vehicle waiting spaces in which a vehicle can awaitdelivery of a delayed order, said distance being sufficient to allow anupstream vehicle leaving the primary food delivery window to driveforward and around a downstream vehicle waiting at the in-line vehiclewaiting area and to the vehicle egress without backing up; an attendantrunway downstream of the primary food delivery window adjacent to thein-line vehicle waiting area to provide at least a portion of a pathfrom the primary food delivery window to a vehicle waiting in thein-line vehicle waiting area; at least one pass-thru opening adjacent tothe attendant runway and the in-line vehicle waiting area for passing afood order from the attendant runway to a vehicle waiting in the in-linevehicle waiting area; a secondary vehicle lane positioned along at leasta portion of the vehicular drive-thru lane adjacent the in-line vehiclewaiting area and being of sufficient length and width to allow a vehicleleaving the primary food delivery window to drive forward and past adownstream vehicle waiting in the in-line vehicle waiting area withouthaving to back up and to thereafter proceed to the lot vehicular egressvia the secondary vehicle lane; a secondary drive-thru system remotefrom the building, the secondary drive-thru system including adrive-thru order area and a delivery area for use by drive-thru vehiclesnot placing food orders in the primary vehicular drive-thru lane, thesecondary drive-thru system including at least one order station where afood order is placed and at least one delivery area to which a foodorder placed in the secondary drive-thru system is delivered; and abuilding egress proximate to the attendant runway for providingattendant access from the attendant runway to the outside of thebuilding to deliver a food order placed from the order station of thesecondary drive-thru system to a vehicle waiting in the delivery area ofthe secondary drive-thru system.
 24. The vehicular drive-thru foodordering and delivering system as claimed in claim 23 furthercharacterized by the secondary drive-thru system includes a plurality oforder stations that are combined order and delivery stations for bothplacing a food order and receiving delivery of the food order placedfrom the secondary drive-thru system.
 25. The vehicular drive-thru foodordering and delivering system as claimed in claim 23 further comprisingthe secondary drive-thru system including a plurality of order stationsfor placing food orders therefrom, and a common delivery area for makingdelivery thereat of food orders placed at the plurality of orderstations in the secondary drive-thru system, the common delivery arealocated proximate to the building egress and downstream from the orderstations in the secondary drive-thru system whereby a vehicle placing anorder at an order station in the secondary drive-thru system can driveforward from the order station to receive delivery of the food orderfrom an attendant in the common delivery area and thereafter exit thepremises without backing up.
 26. The system of claim 22 furthercomprising: an in-line vehicle waiting area located in the drive-thrulane a distance downstream of the delivery window so that a vehicle mayenter the in-line vehicle waiting area by driving downstream from thedelivery window without exiting from the drive-thru lane, the in-linevehicle waiting area including one or more in-line vehicle waitingspaces in which a vehicle can await delivery of a delayed order, saiddistance being sufficient to allow an upstream vehicle leaving thedelivery window to drive forward and around a downstream vehicle waitingat the in-line vehicle waiting area and to the vehicle egress withoutbacking up; and an attendant runway downstream of the delivery window,at least a portion of the attendant runway positioned in an area outsidethe building and adjacent to the in-line vehicle waiting area to provideat least a portion of a path from the delivery window to a vehiclewaiting in the in-line vehicle waiting area without requiring anattendant to cross over the drive-thru lane.
 27. A vehicular drive-thrufood ordering and delivering system comprising; a lot having a vehicularingress and vehicular egress thereto; a building for receiving andfilling drive-thru customer orders for delivery to customers, thebuilding having a primary food delivery window for passing food ordersthrough the primary food delivery window to a drive-thru customer; avehicular drive-thru lane situated on the lot and passing adjacent tothe primary food delivery window, the vehicular drive-thru laneaccessible from the lot vehicular ingress and having access to the lotvehicular egress; at least one order station located along the vehiculardrive-thru lane and upstream of the primary food delivery window; anin-line vehicle waiting area located a distance downstream of theprimary food delivery window so that a vehicle may enter the in-linevehicle waiting area by driving downstream from the primary fooddelivery window, the in-line vehicle waiting area including one or morein-line vehicle waiting spaces in which a vehicle can await delivery ofa delayed order, said distance being sufficient to allow an upstreamvehicle leaving the primary food delivery window to drive forward andaround a downstream vehicle waiting at the in-line vehicle waiting areaand to the vehicle egress without backing up; and a secondary fooddelivery window located downstream of the primary food delivery window,the secondary food delivery window being located adjacent the firstin-line vehicle waiting space and adjacent an enclosed attendant pathwayaccessible from the primary food delivery window and the secondary fooddelivery window, to allow delivery of a delayed order through thesecondary food delivery window to a vehicle waiting at the first in-linevehicle waiting space.
 28. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering anddelivering system of claim 27, said downstream distance from the primaryfood delivery window to the vehicle waiting area being sufficient toallow an upstream vehicle leaving the primary food delivery window todrive forward and around a downstream vehicle waiting at the in-linevehicle waiting area without backing up, further comprising a vehiclelane positioned along at least a portion of and adjacent the in-linevehicle waiting area and being of sufficient length and width to allow avehicle leaving the primary food delivery window to drive forward andpast a downstream vehicle waiting in the in-line vehicle waiting areawithout having to back up and to thereafter proceed to the lot vehicularegress.
 29. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering systemof claim 27 wherein the in-line vehicle waiting area is located in thevehicular drive-thru lane.
 30. The vehicular drive-thru food orderingand delivering system of claim 29 wherein a vehicle may enter thein-line vehicle waiting area without exiting from the vehiculardrive-thru lane.
 31. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering anddelivering system of claim 27 wherein at least a portion of theattendant runway is positioned in an area outside the building.
 32. Thevehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 27wherein the entire attendant runway is located inside the building. 33.The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 32wherein the building has a first side and the pick-up window is locatedin the first side of the building and the attendant runway is locatedalong the first side of the building and extends along the first side ofthe building to provide the path to the in-line vehicle waiting area.34. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system ofclaim 27 wherein the building has a first side and the pick-up window islocated in the first side of the building and the attendant runway islocated along the first side of the building and extends along the firstside of the building to provide the path to the in-line vehicle waitingarea.
 35. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering systemof claim 34 wherein the first side of the building is at least generallylinear.
 36. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering systemof claim 35 wherein the first side of the building is at least generallylinear.
 37. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering systemof claim 35 further comprising a secondary food delivery window locateddownstream of the primary food delivery window, the secondary fooddelivery window being located adjacent the first in-line vehicle waitingspace and adjacent an enclosed attendant pathway accessible from theprimary food delivery window and the secondary food delivery window, toallow delivery of a delayed order through the secondary food deliverywindow to a vehicle waiting at the first in-line vehicle waiting space.38. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system ofclaim 34 wherein the first side of the building is linear.
 39. Thevehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 38wherein the first side of the building is linear.
 40. The vehiculardrive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 27 wherein theprimary food delivery window is used to collect payment for orders notpreviously paid for, and the building does not have another location forreceiving payment from a drive-thru customer in a vehicle made to anattendant in the building and the in-line vehicle waiting area has atleast one vehicle waiting space that is located proximate to the primaryfood delivery window.
 41. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering anddelivering system of claim 27 further comprising a barrier positionedalong and between at least a portion of the attendant runway and thevehicular drive-thru lane for protecting an attendant on the attendantrunway from vehicular traffic.
 42. The vehicular drive-thru foodordering and delivering system of claim 27 further comprising a displaypositioned adjacent the in-line vehicle waiting area, the display fordisplaying information relating to a specific customer's order.
 43. Thevehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 42wherein the display is positioned adjacent the portion of the attendantrunway that is located outside the building.
 44. The vehiculardrive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 27 wherein thevehicle lane positioned along a portion of and adjacent the in-linevehicle waiting area is a pass-through lane that extends along the outerperimeter of the drive-thru lane.
 45. The vehicular drive-thru foodordering and delivering system of claim 27 wherein the in-line vehiclewaiting area includes first and second in-line vehicle waiting spaces,the second in-line vehicle waiting space being located downstream fromthe first in-line vehicle waiting space and the second in-line vehiclewaiting space being spaced a sufficient distance from the first vehiclewaiting space so that a vehicle waiting at the first in-line vehiclewaiting space can drive forward and around a vehicle waiting in thesecond in-line vehicle waiting space without backing up, and the secondvehicle lane is of sufficient length and width to allow use by a vehiclewaiting at the first in-line vehicle waiting space to drive forward andaround a downstream vehicle waiting in the second in-line vehiclewaiting space without backing up and thereafter to proceed to thevehicular egress, and the path from the primary food delivery window toboth the first and the second in-line vehicle waiting spaces does notrequire an attendant to cross the vehicular drive-thru lane to deliver afood order.
 46. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and deliveringsystem of claim 45 wherein the second in-line vehicle waiting space islocated downstream of the building egress along a portion of theattendant runway that is outside of the building.
 47. The vehiculardrive-thru food ordering and delivering system of claim 27 wherein theattendant pathway from the secondary food delivery window to the fooddelivery window located adjacent the second in-line vehicle waitingspace is located inside the building.
 48. The vehicular drive-thru foodordering and delivering system of claim 27 further comprising: a vehicleparking lot having a plurality of parking spaces for non-drive-thrucustomers and having vehicular access to at least one vehicular ingressand at least one vehicular egress for the lot; a pedestrian pathway fornon-drive-thru customers to provide a pathway from the vehicle parkinglot to the building to allow a non-drive-thru customer to place andreceive an order thereat; the vehicular drive-thru lane comprising avehicular drive-thru pathway for drive-thru customers, the drive-thrupathway including at least one drive-thru lane with the drive-thrupathway having an inner perimeter, the vehicular drive-thru lane havingaccess to at least one vehicular ingress and access to at least onevehicular egress to the lot; the inner perimeter of the drive-thrupathway being located outwardly from at least some of the parking spacesof the non-drive-thru parking lot and outwardly from at least a portionof the pedestrian pathway and the building, so that non-drive-thrucustomers can use the at least some of the parking spaces and the atleast a portion of the pedestrian pathway without walking across thevehicular drive-thru pathway.
 49. The vehicular drive-thru food orderingand delivering system of claim 27 further comprising: an in-lineordering area located in the vehicular drive-thru lane upstream of theprimary food delivery window, the in-line ordering area including aplurality of in-line order stations; a vehicle sensing device capable ofdetecting if an in-line order station is unoccupied or occupied by avehicle and communicating the sensed information, a vehicle signalingdevice capable of providing traffic directions to vehicles in orentering the in-line ordering area; an in-line ordering area vehiculartraffic controller capable of receiving occupancy informationcommunicated from the vehicle sensing device, and capable of sending asignal to the vehicle signaling device for causing traffic directions tobe provided by the vehicle signaling device to vehicles in or enteringthe in-line ordering area, whereby the traffic directions providedprompt a vehicle to proceed past at least one unoccupied in-line orderstation to the most downstream unoccupied in-line order station forplacing a food order at the most downstream unoccupied order station.50. The vehicular drive-thru food ordering and delivering system ofclaim 49 wherein the traffic controller automatically disables anupstream unoccupied in-line order station that the vehicle is promptedto pass by while proceeding to the most downstream unoccupied in-lineorder station, the automatic disabling at least including not acceptingorders from the in-line order station the vehicle is directed to pass bywhen proceeding to the most downstream unoccupied in-line order station.51. A method of servicing customers in vehicles in a vehiculardrive-thru food ordering and delivering system including a vehiculardrive-thru lane with a vehicular ingress and a vehicular egress, aprimary food delivery window for use by an attendant to receive paymentfor drive-thru orders not previously paid for, and to deliver readyorders to customers comprising, delivering a first food order to a firstcustomer in the vehicular drive-thru lane from the primary food deliverywindow if the first food order for the first customer is a non-delayedorder and thereafter allowing the first customer to exit the vehiculardrive-thru lane at the vehicular egress; directing the first customer atthe primary food delivery window, if the first order is a delayed order,to move downstream from the primary food delivery window to wait in adownstream in-line vehicle waiting area, the downstream in-line vehiclewaiting area also being located proximate to the primary food deliverywindow; providing drive-thru service to a second customer in a vehiclethat is upstream from the first customer while the first customer waitsin the in-line vehicle waiting area for delivery of a delayed firstorder, the continued service for the second customer while the firstcustomer waits for the delayed first order including delivering a secondorder to the second customer from the primary food delivery window whenthe second order is a non-delayed order and thereafter allowing thesecond customer to drive forward and around the first customer withoutbacking up to exit at the vehicular egress; delivering a delayed firstorder to the first customer waiting in the in-line vehicle waiting areawhen the delayed first order becomes ready for delivery by an attendantwho takes the then ready delayed first order and travels along anattendant pathway to the first customer waiting in the in-line vehiclewaiting area, wherein the attendant pathway from the primary fooddelivery window to the customer waiting in the in-line vehicle waitingarea does not cross the drive-thru lane, and after delivery of the firstorder to the first customer, allowing the first customer to exit at thevehicular egress.
 52. The method of claim 51 wherein the attendanttravels along an attendant pathway that is entirely located within thebuilding to the first customer waiting in the in-line vehicle waitingarea.
 53. The method of claim 51 further comprising directing the secondcustomer to move away from the primary food delivery window and to waitin the downstream in-line vehicle waiting area if the second order forthe second customer is a delayed order.
 54. The method of claim 53further comprising, providing an order placing station where drive-thrucustomers can place orders from within their vehicles, the drive-thruorder station positioned along the vehicular drive-thru lane andpositioned remote from the primary food order window; providing twoin-line vehicle waiting spaces in the in-line vehicle waiting area,providing the primary food delivery window in a drive-thru restaurantbuilding, wherein the primary food delivery window allows an attendantadjacent the primary food delivery window to deliver ready customerorders from within the building by exiting the doorway to make adelivery of a delayed order outside the building to customers waiting ineither of the in-line vehicle waiting spaces.
 55. The method of claim 52further comprising, providing a first and a second in-line vehiclewaiting space in the in-line vehicle waiting area, the second in-linevehicle waiting space located downstream of the first parking space, thefirst and second in-line vehicle waiting spaces positioned along theattendant pathway and at least the second in-line vehicle waiting spacebeing located downstream from the doorway, the first in-line vehiclewaiting space being located a sufficient distance from the secondin-line vehicle waiting space so that when a customer is waiting in eachof the first and second in-line vehicle waiting spaces, a customerwaiting in the first in-line vehicle waiting space that has receiveddelivery of a delayed order is thereafter allowed to drive forward andaround the customer waiting in the second in-line vehicle waiting spaceto exit the vehicular drive-thru lane at the vehicular egress withoutbacking up.
 56. The method of claim 51 wherein the delayed first orderis delivered through a secondary food delivery window, the secondaryfood delivery window being located downstream of the primary fooddelivery window and accessible by an attendant leaving the primary fooddelivery window without the attendant walking outdoors.
 57. Aquick-service restaurant system for providing both vehicular drive-thruand non-drive-thru customer food ordering comprising, a lot; at leastone vehicular ingress and at least one vehicular egress to the lot; abuilding, dedicated to one restaurant, situated on the lot for preparingdrive-thru and non-drive-thru customer orders and for delivering of thecustomer orders to the customers; a vehicle parking lot having aplurality of parking spaces for non-drive-thru customers and havingvehicular access to at least one vehicular ingress and at least onevehicular egress for the lot; a pedestrian pathway for non-drive-thrucustomers to provide a pathway from the vehicle parking lot to thebuilding to allow a non-drive-thru customer to place and receive anorder thereat; a vehicular drive-thru pathway for drive-thru customers,the drive-thru pathway including at least one drive-thru lane with thedrive-thru pathway having an inner perimeter, the vehicular drive-thrulane having access to at least one vehicular ingress and access to atleast one vehicular egress to the lot; at least one order stationlocated along the drive-thru pathway for placing drive-thru orders bycustomers in vehicles; the building having a delivery window fordelivering drive-thru orders to a customer in a drive-thru vehicle, thedelivery window located adjacent to the drive-thru path; and the innerperimeter of the drive-thru pathway being located outwardly from all ofthe parking spaces of the parking lot and outwardly from the pedestrianpathway and the building, so that non-drive-thru customers can use theparking lot and the pedestrian pathway without walking through thevehicular drive-thru pathway.